Taiwanese president appeals to China

WILLIAM FOREMANAssociated Press Writer

Published Monday, July 22, 2002

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's president voiced impatience with Beijing's refusal to answer his calls for top-level talks to improve relations and said Sunday the island nation might "walk down our own Taiwanese road," an apparent high-stakes threat to formally declare independence from the Chinese mainland.

At the same time President Chen Shui-bian made one of his strongest appeals yet to Chinese leaders to open meetings on healing the split that began more than a half-century ago when Communist forces took over the mainland and the nationalist government fled to Taiwan to set up a government in exile.

"We'll use good will and sincerity to knock on the door and use confidence and action to open the door," he said. "We hope the other side can respond positively so we can jointly open a new era of relations across the Taiwan Strait."

Since he was elected two years ago, Chen has made several offers to hold a summit with Chinese leaders. But China has refused to meet him until he agrees that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.

Chen has refused to accept preconditions and there has been no substantive progress on breaking the stalemate.

On Sunday, Chen suggested Taiwan might abandon hopes for closer relations and move toward a formal break, though he avoided using the loaded word "independence." Chinese leaders have warned they would consider such a move an act of war.

"We'll have to seriously consider whether to walk down our own road to strive for Taiwan's future," he said.

The United States cut formal ties with Taiwan in 1979 when it shifted diplomatic relations to the mainland which insists all nations have ties only with it. Nevertheless, Washington maintains close relations with Taiwan, provides it military hardware and is the island's most likely defender against a Chinese attack.

The president made the comments in a televised prime-time speech during a closely watched convention of his Democratic Progressive Party.

The once-banned DPP was formed 15 years ago by feminists, environmentalists, dissidents, pro-independence activists and others who opposed the Nationalist Party, which controlled Taiwan's presidency for five decades until Chen's election victory in 2000.

The DPP once had a reputation for staging rowdy street demonstrations and supporting formal independence from China. The party's China policy scared away many in Taiwan's large pool of moderate, middle-class voters, who feared the party would provoke a devastating conflict with China. Beijing has repeatedly warned that Taiwan eventually must unify or face war. In recent years, the DPP has become more mainstream and has watered down its position on independence. Chen has promised voters he would not seek independence unless China attacked.

In his speech Sunday, Chen acknowledged that the two rivals probably will not be able to sit down at a summit table soon. The top leaders from both sides have not met in 53 years. But Chen said they could begin soothing historic grudges now with party-to-party exchanges. China did not immediately react to Chen remarks, but Taiwan's biggest opposition party, the Nationalists, was quick to criticize the president.

Spokesman Wu Ching-chi told reporters that his party -- which favors eventual unification -- was most concerned about Chen's comment about Taiwan going its own way and wondered if this meant independence.

"This sentence is vague and people have doubts about it," Wu said.

The one-day convention was a historic event for the young DPP because Chen took over as the group's chairman, becoming its first member to serve as both the party's leader and the island's president.

The move has been controversial because when Chen was elected two years ago, he promised voters he would distance himself from his party's affairs and become a president who represented all the people -- not just his DPP supporters. But his efforts to form a coalition government have failed, and he has decided that his best plan now is to work closely with his DPP.

After elections last December, the DPP became the largest party in the legislature. But it's still slightly short of a majority, and an opposition alliance has blocked many of the government's initiatives.

During the presidential campaign, China urged voters not to support Chen, and Chinese leaders have refused to meet with official DPP delegations.

But in recent months, Chinese leaders have greatly softened their position as they became more comfortable with Chen. They have said they would meet with DPP members who are not ardent independence supporters.

As he seeks re-election in 2004, the president needs to improve ties with Beijing and to deliver on his campaign pledge to end a five-decade ban on direct air and shipping links with China. Some Taiwanese have exerted tremendous pressure on Chen to accept China's demand that he agree the island is part of China -- a notion called the "one-China principle."